Posts Tagged ‘Midnight City’

I wrote about a lot of violent games over the weekend. It sure would be nice to also be able to write about something where the active verb is “traverse” rather than “pummel”, “murder” or “flee danger”.

Oh, we can all be cynical about the commercialisation of religious festivals and The Man trying to import American commercial holidays we have no sentimental attachment to, but look. Watch the Costume Quest 2 launch trailer and feel a little bit warm inside about Halloween. Look at those happy little children (admittedly fictional children created by adults) and their adorable little spooky costumes and think “Awww, isn’t that nice?” It’s a proper launch-launch trailer too, none of that ‘weeks in advance’ nonsense, coming this evening just as Double Fine’s RPG launched on Steam for Windows, Mac, and Linux at £10.99.

I remember when vampires were cool, before they were ruined by girls with their soft emotions and squishy bits. Vampires should wear uncomfortable amounts of PVC, have names like Sisters of Mercy song titles, pose moodily on rooftops, and kill loads of soldiers in slow-motion. Not, I don’t know, sparkle or something? They sparkle now, don’t they? And hold hands? And we’re supposed to want to hold hands and kiss too? Gross. YOUNG PEOPLE.

In a post-The Matrix, pre-Underworld time, Terminal Reality gave us a blade-slinging, leather-clad, half-vampire Nazi-hunter in the 3D hack ‘n’ slash BloodRayne, spawning two so-so games in the early noughties then a dire movie trilogy from Uwe Boll. Something something wordplay about the undead or whatever, after a seven-year break Rayne returned to games in BloodRayne Betrayal, a 2D stabby platformer for consoles. Which is now ported to PC, arriving next Wednesday.

In what would come to be called the Krautrock movement, bands like Can and Faust blended psychedelic and progressive rock with experimental electronics and a kick of jazz, riding rock off its rigid rails to create their own trippy paths. Yet that’s not why Krautscape is called Krautscape. No, while it may be playing at the same with racing, it’s ostensibly named after a fictional character with a hilarious name who dreamed of flying cars, Dr. von Krautkopf.

See, Krautscape has freeform tracks created by the whims and fancies of the leading racer, while chasing players can pop their wings to glide off-track and chase them down. The game’s not quite ready to soar yet, but you can still lay down some smooth tracks as it’s now hit Steam Early Access. Read the rest of this entry »

Ahem. So as you may have already surmised, there is going to be a Costume Quest 2. The original Costume Quest was a delightful Halloween-themed role-playing romp from Double Fine that warmed hearts and had Alec’s internal, infernal grin factory working over time. But it was also a rather insubstantial snack of a game, all things considered. A sticky-sweet Halloween treat, but far from the sumptuous meal it could’ve been. That in mind, I’m very, very, very excited that Double Fine is carving a second Costume Quest from its colossal game development pumpkin. I doubt it’ll be some sprawling mega-opus, but I certainly won’t say no to a slightly improved stroll down the darkest of child-friendly candy-filled alleys.